Top Australian racer and factory Kyosho driver Kyle McBride has signed to run Novarossi engines for 2014. Having run with OS engines for a number of years, the former FEMCA Champion will be looking towards the World Championships in Italy later this year with a hope to improve on his 4th place at the Worlds in Pattaya in 2010 having gone out in the Semi Final in Argentina in 2012.
Source: Novarossi [novarossi.it]
Multiple 1/10th European Champion and World Championship podium finisher Dario Balestri has signed for new Italian engine brand XRD. The Italian leaves behind Novarossi for whom he has raced with for over a decade, a move which coincides with a chassis sponsor change from KM to Capricorn for both 1/8th and 1/10th having only raced with the Italian marque in 1/8th. Dario issued the following statement:
I want to say thanks to all the Novarossi factory for over 10 years of great race and performance. It is time to make a change for me and try to improve. I’m proud to race with another new Italian engine factory for the coming years.
Source: XRD [xrdtech.com]
Similar to the aluminium nose brace tubes for the RC10 Classic released some days ago, JConcepts now have diamond wing tubes for the same car. Available in black and silver color schemes, the diamond tubes in black jump out with a pattern of black hex flats matching a gold or black chassis combination. The tubes are sized to slide into the bulkhead and press into position similar to the stock components.
More HPI news with the announcement that they have signed 2-time gas onroad World Champion, and head of Orion’s engine development, Adrien Bertin. ‘We are excited not only to be adding a winner of IFMAR World Championships in both nitro on road classes but also an ambassador for RC who has earned a high level of respect across the industry. With Adrien joining our established team of top level drivers we eagerly await the start of the 2014 season and a bright future ahead for Team HB!’ Adrien had this to say:
I am really proud to join the HB / HPI Racing team and would like to thank Tatsuro Watanabe and Hiroyuki Kasuya for the great welcome I received. Hot bodies is one of the few world champion brands to have a winning car in any class it attends and this is a great demonstration of their passion and design experience. I am happy to join this team to help in developing their recent nitro on road racing car and make it successful on highest level. Finally I would like to thanks Kenny and KM Racing for their support in 2013.
Source: HPI [hpiracing.com]
Following yesterday’s confirmation that team mate Teemu Leino has re-signed with HB/HPI, former IFMAR World Champion Andy Moore is also now confirmed in the team’s lineup for 2014. Andy has been a part of the team for nearly 10 years, taking the 2006 IFMAR ISTC World Championship and recently accomplishing an A Final finish with the HB R10 at the 2013 IFMAR World Championships for 1/10th Nitro TC. Andy had this to say:
I’m happy to announce my signing of a further 1 year contract extension with HB/HPI Racing. This takes me into my landmark 10th year racing for the company and I’d like to thank Tatsuro Watanabe and Hiro Kasuya for their continued support. This year’s schedule will see me travel to races all over the world promoting HB/HPI racing products including 2 World Championships so it’s going to be a busy year but I look forward to seeing everyone at the track.
Source: HPI [hpiracing.com]
The driver news continues with FX announcing that one of the world’s finest off-road racers, Jörn Neumann has after extensive testing of the 5K engine decided to race this engine for the 2014 racing season. Jörn, who previously raced Picco engines, is a talented off-road specialist racing both 1/10 and 1/8 classes and the list of achievements is extensive including 4 European titles. The Durango team driver will race with the FX engines all the 2014 major events including German Championship series, Neo Race, Efra GP and European & World Championship.
To change a nitro engine sponsor in the World Championship season is for sure a difficult decision for any driver especially because the engine’s performance & reliability play a very important role in any successful race. Despite FX are all new in the nitro engine industry I know Juraj and his dedication for an absolute perfection and I was very interested to test the new 5K engine. To my huge surprise the engines have been extremely reliable and have unbelievable power but are smooth at the same time. After extensive testing I was so amazed and because I want to have absolute confidence in my engine I have decided to use this engine for the 2014 season.
Source: FX [fx-engines.com]
Xray announce that 2013 European Champion Martin Bayer will continue to race for their team in 2014. Martin has been important member of the R&D team participating at the development and testing of XB4 platform as well was actively involved in testing & development of the all-new XB8. Martin had this to say:
2013 was my most successful year with wining the European Championship 1/10 and finishing on podium at European Championship 1/8 off-road as well winning the German & Czech National Championship series. All the Xray off-road cars belong to the absolute top in the racing market and I am very glad to have the best possible cars to defeat the title in 2014 and especially I have been looking for the new season with the new XB8. We showed how good the prototype has worked and now with the final car I am very confident for both the Euros and Worlds. Working with the Xray Factory team is a pleasure and I am happy to re-sign for 2014. I hope our result will be even better and I will do all for it.
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
At the end of December, Florida’s top 10th scale racers descended upon Shiverville Raceway for the final round of JConcepts Super Cup Series Fall session. Most classes were still up for grabs as some classes were in a tie for the title of Champion. Racers arrived to the track in High Springs Florida early on Friday to work on setups. On Saturday everyone was at the track by daylight for the last hours of practice before racing began at 9:30am. Racers had to adapt to a more “old school” track condition with a loamy surface as sunlight was in short supply and moisture was plentiful.
Continue reading the report here
